


Shiver

by matrimus



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: M/M, Rival Youtuber au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 23:24:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14175621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matrimus/pseuds/matrimus
Summary: They're competitors -rivals, even, locked in a head-on fight for the most clicks and subscribers. Why, then, is Rhett so interested in Link's Ice Bucket Challenge video?Rival Youtubers!au





	Shiver

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't really want to post this here considering it's so short, but since Tumblr is being a bitch and putting weird symbols in my text posts, I'm left with little choice.
> 
> Based on [this awesome au](http://matrimus.tumblr.com/post/172130255538/mythicaliz-mythical-linkle-mythical-sophie), in which Rhett and Link are rival youtubers. I will be adding more to this eventually, but for now, have this little drabble thing.
> 
> Come chat to me on [Tumblr](https://matrimus.tumblr.com/)!

He’s put it off for as long as he can – a quick glance toward the watch on his wrist chalking the total up to three hours and thirty-eight minutes – but eventually, the sharp burn of his curiosity overwhelms his sense of pride. Rhett settles back on the couch, laptop open on his knee and headphones snapped tight over his ears, and hits the play button with a resolute huff.

Link appears onscreen, seated comfortably in a striped deckchair. He’s outside, the yellow-gold LA sunshine bouncing from the gentle ripples of a swimming pool half-framed in the shot behind him. Rhett frowns at the sight of those broad shoulders stretching out a faded red t-shirt, Link’s dark hair fluffy and artfully finger-tousled. He’s wearing shorts, tortoiseshell sunglasses, and a broad grin that reaches through the computer screen to sink its jaws into Rhett’s jugular.

“ _Good Mythical Morning_!” The annoying little catchphrase is enough to set Rhett’s teeth on edge; he steeples his fingers beneath his chin and ignores the way Link’s strong hands move animatedly as he speaks. As much as Rhett hates to admit, Link’s a natural in front of the camera – charming and flirtatious, his occasional awkwardness only adding to his allure somehow. It’s infuriating.

“A big thank you goes out to Stevie Levine for her nomination yesterday,” Link chirps, loud in Rhett’s ears. “I’m real proud to be taking part in the Ice Bucket Challenge, a fundraising campaign in honor of bringing awareness to motor neuron-“ 

Rhett’s long-suffering groan drowns out the rest of Link’s speech, his head dropping back to thump against the couch. Of course he’s heard of the Ice Bucket Challenge; he’s watched countless other youtubers take part in the charade these last two weeks, their teeth chattering as they gasped their nominations and donated sizeable amounts of money to ALS research. Whilst he understands the importance of raising awareness for the terrible disease, Rhett has to admit the entire thing leaves a sour taste in his mouth. He’s never enjoyed flash in the pan fads, silly little trends that rush across social media like wildfire. From the Harlem Shake to ‘planking’, Rhett has let each of them pass him by with little more than a judgmental arch of an eyebrow, ignoring any and all nominations tossed his way. Link, of course, has taken part in them all – Rhett can vividly remember the sick sense of satisfaction he’d felt as he’d watched Link cough up a painful cloud of red dust whilst taking part in the ill-fated cinnamon challenge. A large percentage of Link’s videos consist of obnoxious challenges and taste tests, most of them ending with him retching into a trashcan as he tearfully vows to never again eat pig anus or fish eyeballs or yak penis.

Not that Rhett has watched each and every one of Link’s videos to date - of course not.

Regardless, Rhett is as unsurprised to see Link take part in the Ice Bucket Challenge as he is to note the sky is blue and the grass green. A smaller, quieter part of him has been waiting for the video to pop up on his feed – Link has a lot of youtuber friends, after all; it was only a matter of time before he was nominated.

Sucking a deep breath through his nose, Rhett returns his attention to the video in time to watch Link to wriggle further back into the deckchair, his knees spread and fingers curled tight around its plastic armrests. Rhett subconsciously licks his lips, hooded gaze lingering on the way Link’s shoulders draw inward in a way that tenses a thick vein beneath his jaw, the skin there bronzed and dusted with day-old stubble.

“Okay, I’m ready. Lay it on me, Chase.”

A shorter man enters the shot, a large green bucket held precariously in his arms. He tosses the camera a playful grin as he circles around Link – who tenses even further as water sloshes to the concrete, his teeth bared in anticipation – and upends the bucket over Link’s head. Link shrieks as a cascade of icy water crashes over his shoulders, knocking his sunglasses clean off and jerking him forward with its force. Rhett can almost feel the rush of frigid cold himself, cubes of ice bouncing off Link’s chest and falling to pool in his lap. His thin shirt is quickly plastered to the curves of his body, hair soaked and the skin of his arms erupting with goosebumps. Rhett can hear his teeth chatter as he gasps and scrapes clumps of wet hair back from his forehead, bare feet splashing in the resulting puddle when his knees begin to bounce up and down excitedly.

“ _Gracious_ , that’s – _freezing_ –!” His voice pitched high, Link rubs furiously at his chilled arms. Rhett sends out a silent word of thanks to whatever God gave his crew the idea to film the video in high definition; Link’s nipples stand out clearly through the soaked material of his shirt, hard and peaked and begging to be warmed by Rhett’s mouth.

Dragging rough palms over his face, Link stands up; ice showers to the concrete, his shorts as soaked as his shirt and clinging wetly to his narrow hips. Rhett squirms, shifting the computer in his lap. _Get it together, McLaughlin_.

“Woah, that was… _gosh_ …” Link laughs, high and bright, his eyes narrowed against the harsh sunlight. Rhett remembers all too well the full power of that million-watt smile, how he’d been caught like a rabbit in headlights when Link had turned it on him back at Vidcon. Maybe if Rhett hadn’t made fun of his Carolina Reaper video during their first meeting, their volatile relationship might have turned out differently. They shared a similar background after all, southern boys packing up and leaving for Hollywood with big dreams of fame. Surely they ought to be friends, not rivals at each other’s throats? The stubborn side of Rhett knows that, as the man to throw the first stone, it ought to be him to extend the proverbial olive branch. The idea of apologising, publicly or not, is enough to leave him cold. Instead, he hits the dislike button and immediately begins to think of the best way to retaliate, maybe slide a few low blows about Link’s sheep-like mentality for following the crowd into his next _Rhett Rants_ segment.

Back onscreen, Link’s lopsided grin turns wolfish - Rhett feels a chill race the ladder of his spine, slow and sluggish as he drinks in the sight of Link soaked and shivering, wet hair slicked back from his forehead and that damned smirk stretching his lips.

Link’s head cocks toward one shoulder, and Rhett’s world shudders to a halt as his rival’s next words ring through his head.

“I nominate _you_ , Rhett McLaughlin. Yeah, I know you’re watching.” The flash of sharp teeth; a challenge. “You have 24 hours to complete the Ice Bucket Challenge and donate to the cause. Unless Youtube _fads_ aren’t your thing, of course. Feel free to chicken out."


End file.
